When brewing sweetened beverages, such as sweet tea, in restaurants and in the home, there is a lack of consistency from one batch of beverages to the next. For example in tea brewing, the industry uses standard sugar to sweeten tea, and the industry standard is basically one pound of sugar per gallon of tea, which gives a brix of about 11. Brix is a measure (degree) of the sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is one gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength of the solution as a percentage by weight (% w/w). If the solution contains dissolved solids other than pure sucrose, then the Brix only approximates the dissolved solid content. The Brix is traditionally used in tea, wine, sugar, fruit juice, and honey industries to measure sweetness. Brewed sweetened tea has a typical Brix level of 10 to 11. The problem is one usually does not have a scale to weigh out one pound of sugar per gallon of tea so the Brix level varies from one pot or urn of tea to the next. Similarly, this lack of consistency can be a problem when preparing other sweetened beverages as well.
Also in particular to brewing tea, a commercial tea brewing urn typically holds at least 3 gallons of tea and has a brewing basket. A paper filter is placed in the basket and then filled with the tea. Hot water flows into the brewing basket to steep the tea in the basket, and concentrated tea solution is passed into the urn. At the same time, cold water is being delivered into the urn, and the concentrated tea solution and cold water are mixed to make tea. However, when the sugar is added, the temperature of the tea is much cooler so that the sugar is not totally dissolved. Domestic tea machines used in the home, and some restaurants, typically are like drip coffee machines. In domestic brewing the same products and techniques are used, that is, tea is brewed to produce a tea concentrate, then water is added to dilute the tea concentrate, and then the tea solution is sweetened with sugar. For example, there are two typical methods for brewing tea domestically, and each method is made with one teabag to make one quart of brewed tea solution. In the first method, 2 cups of water is brought to a boil on the stove. The boiling water is poured into a tea pitcher on top of one teabag and allowed to steep for 3 to 5 minutes. After steeping, the teabag is removed from the tea solution, and sufficient sugar is added to sweeten the tea to a desired taste profile, that is, a quarter pound or less, and in some instances more. Once sweetened, two additional cups of water are added to the tea pitcher to dilute the sweet tea concentrate. In a second method, a quarter ounce teabag is placed in the brew basket of a domestic coffee maker. Then, 2 cups of water are poured into the coffee maker. The coffee maker will dispense hot water over the teabag to brew a tea concentrate delivered into the coffee pot. The tea concentrate is then poured into a tea pitcher and sweetened to a desired level. Once sweetened, 2 cups of water are poured into the pitcher to dilute the sweet tea concentrate. The preparation of coffee occurs by a similar method, although the addition of sugar and other flavor additives occurs on an individual basis. However, these methods do not provide an effective way to brew sweetened beverages, like coffee or tea, in a consistent and accurate manner.
The commercial tea brewer most commonly used today was invented nearly 40 years ago and has remained relatively unchanged since then. Likewise, the drip brewing method commonly utilized in coffee preparation was invented more than 60 years ago. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus for brewing sweetened beverages, particularly tea and coffee.
Various attempts have been made to improve the brewing of sweetened beverages. US Published Application No. 2010/0159076 A1 shows a floatable infusion package that may include tea and sugar in separate compartments. US Published Application No. 2008/0171110 A1 shows a foraminous plastic vertical tube that can contain tea and sugar, or other solids, which is rigid enough to grip and stir in a liquid to dissolve or infuse its contents. U.S. Pat. No. 2,362,459 discloses an infusion package and the manufacture thereof that includes compartments A and B wherein one compartment contains tea and the other compartment contains sugar. US Published Application No. 2005/0247207 A1 shows a drink infusion device, including tea, having a submersible element and a buoyant retrievable element. U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,215 shows a floating infusion package for tea. U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,505 shows an infusion package having one compartment filled with tea and another compartment filled with sugar. Other patents show various other means of packaging tea and/or sugar. U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,324 discloses a compartmented package that may include tea in one compartment, sugar in another, and creamer in another compartment, which may be poured into a cup of hot water. U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,850 discloses an infusion package containing beverage ingredients, such as powdered tea and sugar carried by a cup, wherein the ingredients are poured into the cup containing hot water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,234 discloses a rigid beverage package that can contain any desired beverage ingredients. Each of the references mentioned above are hereby incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference. None of the prior efforts have provided a way to make sweetened tea accurately and consistently. Additionally, none of the prior efforts have provided a way to make other sweetened beverages accurately and consistently.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an accurate and consistent way of brewing sweetened beverages, including tea and coffee.
Another object of the invention is to provide a beverage brewing product for use in a drip tea/coffee machine which provides an accurate and consistent way of brewing sweetened beverages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide sources of beverage materials and granulated sweetener particles which can be brewed together in prescribed blend ratios in a brewing basket to form a concentrated sweetened beverage solution that exits the brewing basket with sugar dissolved.
Another object of the invention is to provide a filtering means containing beverage materials and sweetener in a prescribed blended ratio for use in the brewing basket of a drip coffee machine to brew beverages accurately and consistently.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sweetened beverage product whereby one may pull a brew basket out of the tea/coffee maker and place a mesh thermoplastic pouch containing a prescribed blend ratio of beverage materials and sweetener, and push a start button to brew sweetened beverages consistently, time and time again.